URB: You touch on some trends such as skinny jeans, popping bottles, tatted up with 808 and heart breaks, auto tune, materialism, what are some other trends that you feel have really hurt hip-hop?Murs: Being from the West Coast, I loved 808 and Heartbreaks for the record; I thought it was brilliant; I was just talking about things that were causing dissention in hip-hop. I wasn’t trying to take a stance being that it is a cover. If Common remade the song, a backpacker from the ‘94era, these would be things that he would be dissing, but I am not a huge fan of the autotune. I am more fan of the Talk Box and Roger Troutman. I think DJ Quick does it the best. I think there is more soul to the Talk Box in songs like “Do Wa Diddy” and “I Wanna Be Your Man”, and using it in rap has just gotten out of control. Like anything it has to end at some point. It was cool when Dre did it, it was cool when Kanye did it, it was cool when Kris Kross did it, it’s cool with T-Pain does it, but it’s time to move on. It’s not a staple. It’s a gimmick, and when we get tired of it, it will go away. Black culture is great at knowing when its time to move on. The materialism, yeah I am over that. I have always been over it. I think it is full of shit. I like some designer clothes, but excess is disgusting, but skinny jeans, I am into that. I am into it. I love to see inner city kids being colorful because the music of their past is so dark, so it is nice to see them wanting to break out and dance and have fun. ITs nice to see them wanting to be unique and have individualism.
URB: “Nails is to pretty to be digging in the crates.” Is this sort of a statement on how sensitive hip-hop has become?
Murs: On the surface that was a line for 9th. People don’t want to dig in the crates any more. People don’t want to sample. Everyone is on Reason or Logic or MIDI Keyboards. I’d rather rap over beats that are not sampled because it is so fucking expensive. For the record, I don’t own any of that song between the song we sampled and Common, I don’t own any of that song. I could see why Kanye was like Fuck that . I am making a bunch of old motherfuckers rich. It wasn’t so much of a diss. I do think that people are too busy making money to dig deeper into what is going on in our communities, and to get dirtier.
URB: One of the things that stands out about your career is all of the collaborative work you do. Having this album start with Kurupt and end with Kurupt is really exciting for fans. How long had that been in the works? How special was it for the Dogg Pound to perform at Paid Dues?
Murs: Man, it has been in the works for a minute. Me, Snoop, Quick, and Kurupt all had the same management. We have a mutual friend in Terrace Martin. I think there is this disconnect where people do not think that DQ Quick or Kurupt as a serious lyricist. Back then I was working with Slug, so I wanted to unify that, so this is another scene that I am a part of. People respect me. So not only am I going to put Kurupt on a Murs record, but I am going to put him over a 9th Wonder beat; let’s see what you guys say now. It was just a phone call. It got to the point where he was just like when, where what. It was never a money thing. Me and 9th argued about what beat he was going to rap over, and he was like Fuck it, I’ll do both. 9th being from North Carolina, was like we are putting both of them on there. I love Kurupt. He is a big fan. Imagined that a traditional back pack, Grammy nominated, R&B producer is a huge fan of his and respects his work immensely. I had brought him out at another show to perform “New York, New York” and kids reacted well. So I was like it’s time for them to be at Paid Dues, so they did all of the meet and greets, all of the interviews. They were a pleasure to work with. I didn’t get to see it, but from what I understand they were the most praised performance at Paid Dues.
URB: Have there been discussions about a full length collaborative effort between the two of you?
Murs: We have talked about it. I know that Kurupt is prolific. When I saw him at Paid Dues, he was like “Murs, I am opening and closing the album cus? We need to do a Murs, Kurupt, 9th Wonder album.” And I was like alright. We have talked about it before doing a Murs vs. Kurupt album, maybe 3 or 4 collaborative songs and then 3 or 4 solo songs each. Because he has stories, he has girl tracks. I am influenced by him, and he has range and we can go the spectrum. Who knows. Anything he does with me or for me, I am grateful.
URB: One of the things that is made clear from the artists that appear at Paid Dues and the artists that make guest appearances on your projects (on this project you have Suga free, Kurupt, Sick Jacken), is that you aren’t just a West Coast artist but you are an West Coast artist who is dedicated to shinning light on the diverse talent that the West Coast has to offer. How important is it for you to use your albums and the festival as a way to continue to show everything that the West has to offer?
Murs: Its where I live. Its where I grew up. I have always had a sort of resentment to Los Angeles artists who said like New York artists. From day one, people could always tell where I was from the moment I opened my mouth, but I think a lot of artists from Los Angeles feel like they need to sound like they are from New York in order to be respected like real hip-hop. I try to turn that negative energy into something positive, so on my album you I have artists that are unapologetically West Coast artists. When you hear Sick Jacken, you hear the West Coast. When you hear Suga Free, you hear West Coast. And you hear them rhyme over traditional hip-hop, which is what 9th Wonder does. We may be gangbangers with jheri curls, but we love hip-hop. We are Bboys just like you are.
Murs:
[...] READ THE REST OF THE INTERVIEW HERE @ URB.COM Previous PostMaestro Knows-”Tour De Maestro NYC” [...]